


The Gift

by Airwing



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Afterlife, Death, Gen, Graphic Description, Implied Heaven, Morbid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-28
Updated: 2014-10-28
Packaged: 2018-02-22 23:04:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2524991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Airwing/pseuds/Airwing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just a drabble on what Chuck experiences after the explosion of Striker Eureka.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Gift

**Author's Note:**

> _Author’s Notes: Just a little drabble, my second attempt at something short and sweet, so to speak. It’s kinda graphic as far as gore goes, so be aware. Kind of sad and depressing but at the same time kind of relieving._

The last thing I remember was the bright flash of light and intense heat that enveloped my body. I had closed my eyes just in time so I was not blinded, but the warmth that followed seared away my eyelids. It’s all a blur, so maybe that came later. 

I said my goodbyes, and pushed a button. A moment went by and everything hit slow motion. A loud bang went off, rupturing my ear drums. Blood didn’t have time to come out. I’m not sure if it was the force of the noise, or the bomb itself, but something forced the frame inside of the jaeger to wrench, to bend and break. I was ripped from the harness while the metal and plastic of my drive suit melted through my circuitry suit, searing my flesh. I’m pretty sure it ate right to the bone instantly. 

Despite the slow-motion in which everything happened, the reality is that it happened so fast, I had no time to feel the pain. The pain of my limbs being ripped from their sockets, my skin and muscles ripping along with them. My head was crushed between plates of metal, my chest impaled, and my organs liquified in the heat. I couldn’t hear the noise, but I think that was a blessing because I can only imagine in those short few seconds, the sounds would be something from a nightmare. 

I don’t remember the next event, but I just know it happened. The jaeger exploded, wiping out the intended target. It caused a shockwave that forced the ocean to retreat in a dome, leaving the sealife to rot on the ground. A moment later, it all rushed back inside, almost tearing apart my comrades in their own machine. 

Now I wake up and it’s dark. I don’t know if I can see, but it feels like I have eyelids. I can hear a rushing, a sloshing sound all around me. I’m cold. So very cold. Suddenly I hear a strange high-pitched squealing sound, something that sounds like it came from a whale or dolphin. I’m in the ocean. I realize now that I am in the ocean. I can’t see because I am so deep light doesn’t reach. But if I am so far down, why am I not crushed? Why am I not choking from lack of air? 

Wait, I’m not breathing at all. In fact, my body feels… silent. I can't explain it. It’s like there is no life within me. But if that’s the case, why do I feel cold? Why can I hear, and see, or so I assume I can. Why can I taste the bitter salt water when I open my mouth? I decide I will find no answers here, so perhaps I should swim to the surface.

As I swim, I begin to see the closer I get to the surface. Deep blues and greens, then brighter and brighter, before I finally break the surface. I try to gasp for air out of habit, but nothing comes. I don’t need it. So here I am on the surface, treading water, looking around. 

I can see something off in the distance, something that looks like two black inflatable boats. They’re covered, with a logo on the side, but I can’t tell what it is. I decide to tread over to the nearest one and am able to climb atop it. 

I hear noise, a hissing and a pop. I turn toward the other raft and see a person wearing a black outfit—a drive suit. I recognize the person as Mako Mori, the blue streaks in her chin-length hair a definite identifier. She’s calling out and notices the other raft. I call out to her and while I hear the noise of my own voice, she doesn’t respond to me. Instead she dives into the water and approaches the raft. It must be her comrade in here. 

She climbs up onto the raft and I move aside, but she still doesn’t seem to notice me. I know she and I had hostility, but I would think she would at least acknowledge my presence. 

Another hiss-pop and I see my rival laying there, motionless. Raleigh Becket. He looks peaceful. Mako is panicking as he doesn’t wake up, and it begins to worry me. I call out his name as she does, and give out a cheer when he finally comes to life, Mako’s arms wrapped around him. 

I call out to him again but he doesn’t notice me either. In an attempt to get his attention I reach out to touch his shoulder, but my hand doesn’t connect. It goes into his body.

I jerk back, not expecting such a thing to happen. What’s going on?

Now I am noticing something else. My hand, it looks… lighter. It looks… translucent. I bring them before me and notice they are beginning to fade. I can’t see them anymore. I look from where my hands were right up to my arms, and they, too, are fading. I am fading. 

It’s at this point I realize with certainty that I a dead. That’s why they don’t react to me. They can’t see me, hear me, feel me. I’m not there. I have no idea how to explain my sight, hearing, or taste, and I have no idea how to account for the cold I felt. If I am truly dead, I shouldn’t have any senses. Well, then again how should I know, I’ve never been dead before. 

I fade away entirely but I am still there. My body is gone from sight, but I can still see and hear. I then feel myself begin to float. The ground starts to get smaller as I ascend. 

Even after the way I have treated people over the years, even after my feelings of hostility and arrogance, I have still earned my place in the afterlife. I know why I woke up at the bottom of the ocean, why I came up to find both Raleigh and Mako alive. Something wanted me to see that the mission succeeded. That my—our—sacrifice, me and Pentecost, that it wasn’t in vain. It allowed Gipsy Danger to continue on and finish the mission. And now I have seen they succeeded, and I have seen they are alive and safe. That’s the gift that I earned, and now I have ascended as far as I can go and no longer can I see anything below. 

I feel no fear. Only relief. I smile, satisfied that I have served my purpose. Humanity is safe from the kaiju, thanks to me and my…friends. My friends. Yes, they are my friends, and I wish them well. I wish them happiness and success. But for now, I wait patiently for them, for my friends and my father, and hopefully my dog. We’ll all see each other again, and it will be amazing.


End file.
